MOSCOW, March 21. /TASS/. Ukraine does not consider a presence of UN peacekeepers as an alternative to partners' military contingent or security guarantees, Vladimir Zelensky told the media journalists.
"With all due respect, the UN will not protect us. <...> We do not see the UN as an alternative to the contingent or security guarantees. <...> It cannot be an alternative to security guarantees, because the UN will not have any mandate to protect Ukraine," he said.
Zelensky simultaneously admitted that he did not know whether the contingent would have such a mandate. "I don't have an answer to this question yet, but certainly when there are air defenses, ships, airplanes, a serious army, real intelligence of our partners, it is certainly very unsafe to go against such a structure. So, we do not consider [UN peacekeepers] as an alternative," he added.
On March 21, Britain’s The Daily Telegraph quoted sources as saying that French President Emmanuel Macron was considering giving a peacekeeper status through the UN to troops of a "coalition of the willing" in Ukraine after the conflict is resolved. According to the daily, Macron raised the issue at the EU summit in Brussels on March 20.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on March 12 that the presence of NATO troops under any flag and in any capacity on Ukrainian soil would be a threat to Russia. According to him, Russia will not accept this under any circumstance.